Search results
Assembling the model Back to top
The next stage is that the metal rods within the original columns have to be cut to divide the model into two halves. This intervention is essential to enable Tim to slide new sections of column onto the rods to replace missing sections. There is then a long process to marry up the new pieces with the old. First, a length of new plaster column is placed alongside the old and marked up in pencil before being roughly cut to size. The end of the new section is then gradually pared down so that it fits against the broken end of the old section perfectly. Once the new sections are finished, they are glued into place. As Timothy Richards observes, it would be much easier to replace a whole column, but the aim of the restoration is to preserve as much of the original model as possible.
By autumn 2019, with its base repaired, broken columns once more complete and every miniscule tile of the roof perfect, the model was ready to return to the restored Model Room and reunite the 20 Fouquet models for the first time since World War II.
For more information about Timothy Richards' work, visit www.timothyrichards.co.uk
Beginning the project Back to top
The original frames are visible in a watercolour from Soane’s time but sometime between 1911 and 1925 the frames were replaced, and the original frames disposed of. Research by the Museum’s Deputy Director Helen Dorey unearthed two black and white photographs taken in 1911 that showed the original, ‘neo-rococo’ frames with their complex “composition” ornament. One showed the whole of one frame but was, sadly, not high resolution enough to see the decoration in detail. The other, fortunately, showed one corner of one frame in incredible detail: enough to allow the Soane to create a composite scale photograph of the decoration of the entire original frame.
Moulding the frames Back to top
To recreate the lost frames the Soane turned to Joseph McCarthy Mirror and Frame Makers in Tunbridge Wells, a specialist company which in 2005 inherited the Binnings Collection of over 3,000 unique reverse-carved boxwood moulds of the type used to create the decoration required.
As Joseph McCarthy explains, this was a project that enabled McCarthy’s to do what they love best – investigating and recreating original historic frames - and they were excited about the challenge of finding the corresponding moulds for all the intricate decorative elements.
Once they had identified the correct moulds then the process of casting the ornament in “composition” began. “Compo” is a putty-like mixture of chalk, resins, glue and linseed oil. Once prepared it is used to fill the blocks which are then pressed before the compo is taken out and applied to the timber picture frame. Once dry compo becomes rigid, providing a low-cost alternative to timber carving. The complex decoration of these frames meant using several different moulds to produce each section of ornament.
Gilding the frame Back to top
Once the compo was complete the frames returned to the Soane Museum for gilding. First, consultant specialist frame conservator Clare Kooy-Lister applies a layer of pigment and rabbit skin glue over the whole frame, which will enhance the richness of the gilding. Then some parts of the frame – those that will catch the light – are over-painted again with a second, different coloured solution. When this has dried the frame is ready for the application of the gold leaf, which is so thin and light that a special guard is used to prevent draughts blowing it away as it is delicately lifted with a brush and placed on the frame. Once applied the gold is gently pressed down with soft cotton wool to ensure it adheres properly. The new gold is so bright that it disguises the delicacy of the compo decoration and would overwhelm the artwork if left as it is. The solution is ‘toning’, which involves the application of a weak solution of rabbit-skin glue which is then carefully rubbed and distressed to bring out the shape of the compo decoration and give the gold a patina that enables the finished frame to harmonise with its older neighbours once re-hung in the North Drawing Room.
Preparing the drawings Back to top
While the frames were being recreated, the two sketches were removed from their modern card window-mounts and surface-cleaned by the Museum’s consultant Paper Conservator, Lorraine Bryant. She prepared pale blue mounts for them, replicating the subtle colour shown the 1830s watercolour by applying a matching watercolour wash border with a broad sable brush to a 100% cotton rag board. Several layers of blue wash were gradually applied to the dampened board to avoid tidemarks – it took several attempts to achieve two perfect mounts – before the drawings could finally be mounted and re-framed.
Today, this delightful pair of sketches hangs once again in the North Drawing Room to complete the authentic arrangement of pictures on the east wall as it was at the end of Soane’s life.
For more information about the work of Joseph McCarthy Mirrors and Frames visit www.josephmccarthy.co.uk
Creating the laths Back to top
In this film clip Neil England of England’s Ornamental Plastering describes the process of reconstructing the plaster ceiling ornament, beginning with the sunburst centrepiece, surrounding a cast of Apollo’s head cast from one in Soane’s collection.
The sunburst is composed of plaster laths (thin strips of material covered in plaster) in three layers and Neil must work high up in a tiny cramped space from scaffolding, reaching above his head as he trims and fits the laths. The laths themselves needed to be so thin that the only material that could be used to form them was cotton lint (as Neil observes ‘rather like your grandmother’s curtains) dipped in plaster. Each plaster ray has to be trimmed to the precise size specified in the complex architects drawing – itself the product of a huge amount of research to get the dimensions precisely right.
Chapter 2 Back to top
Nam tincidunt, tellus eu efficitur tincidunt, sapien risus ultricies mauris, lobortis pretium arcu tortor nec nisl. Donec lobortis sed libero vel dignissim. Nam lacinia dui at tortor fermentum aliquet. Nulla consequat eu tortor vel congue. Sed turpis ex, feugiat nec felis dictum, vestibulum commodo eros. Praesent lobortis laoreet tortor a fringilla. Sed metus leo, molestie nec facilisis id, facilisis et eros.
Sticking up the laths Back to top
Neil checks each lath fits before sticking it in place using lime and alpha plaster (top quality casting plaster, which is very fine, hard and strong) – just as the workmen from Thomas Palmer and Son who made the original ceiling for Soane would have done. Neil comments that this is one of the most complex ‘stick ups’ he has ever carried out. Each lath must be placed absolutely precisely because if it is so much at 1mm out of place that will show when the next one is put in place. As soon as the lath is in position Neil must quickly clean off surplus plaster and check that it lines up precisely.
Once the sunburst at the centre of the ceiling is complete Neil moves on to the fixing of the decorative elements at the four corners of the dome, each one composed of three elements – eagle, snakes and a leaf, each cast separately and transported as three pieces to the Museum for fixing. They were carved by EOP’s sculptress Sarah Mayfield and then cast using high Alpha casting plaster in a mix probably a bit, as Neil says, ‘tougher’ than the one used by Soane’s men but otherwise just the same.
This was a very complex project involving years of research into sunburst ceilings and carved snakes and eagles in other locations and Apollo heads and leaves in Soane’s collection. The geometry of the ceiling itself required a huge amount of work to get the dimensions just right and to calculate exactly how the ornaments worked. In the end, as Neil England says at the end of this clip, everyone did their very best working with extraordinary precision to achieve a result as close to how the ceiling looked in Soane’s time as it could possibly be.
Painting the window Back to top
In this film clip Jonathan Cooke begins with the full-scale preparatory drawing, in pencil, for the window. In working on this drawing, with a copy of one of Reynolds’ preparatory paintings for the New College window to hand, he realised that William Collins, in making his copy, adjusted the figures to make them fit the dimensions of the window. If he had reproduced the figure of Charity directly from Reynolds’ original design one of the glazing bars would have passed directly through her face. To allow for this the figure had to be moved to the right and repositioned. Jonathan’s preparatory drawing took a year to produce, working from time to time and gradually building it up. As Jonathan says, it is not a work of art but a working drawing and therefore some parts are not fully drawn up, for example borders where it is only necessary to draw a small part of a repeated motif to provide enough information to paint the glass. A scroll is drawn in detail on one side just copied and reversed to provide a template for its pair on the other side when the glass is painted.
To begin the painting process Jonathan lays the glass over the drawing so that he can mark key points onto it – for example the eyes and noses of the figures. The drawing is then placed on one side and Jonathan continues his work by drawing free hand onto the glass. As he comments, it is a bit like life-drawing, only working from a drawing rather than a live figure. The process can be slow but is very satisfying.
To illustrate how the painting is done the film shows Jonathan using a sable-hair brush to draw the hair of Charity. The sable-hair softens the drawing and gives it the fine texture of real hair. A nightmare for glass painters is if a tiny hair comes loose from the brush and lodges in the paint unnoticed – the oil paint will dry so slowly around it that it leaves a tiny visible halo!
History of the project Back to top
Although Soane wanted his house and collection to be preserved exactly as they were after his death, over the years, curators have made significant alterations to some areas. Though well-meaning, these curators sometimes changed things that Soane would not have wanted changed.
The entire second floor, where Soane and his wife had their bedrooms, and later the spectacular Model Room, was turned into an apartment for the curator. Then into offices. His ‘Lobby to the Breakfast Room’ was lost, and a wall in the Dome area was knocked down, amongst other changes. With the Museum needing space for staff and storage, it seemed very unlikely that these significant losses could ever be reversed.
This all changed with the purchase of No. 14 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, bringing it into the use of the Museum for the first time. The staff offices were moved into No. 14 in 2009, meaning that we could finally start restoring the spaces they had occupied to their former glory. The Research Library and exhibition gallery also moved, allowing their old locations in No. 12 to be turned into new facilities for our visitors. After a very successful fundraising campaign, work began in 2011.